Renegade: The Struggle for Power
by Angel Stryker
Summary: After escaping the clutches of Team Rocket and Giovanni, Shin and his group begin to head out on a mission to cause as much havok as they can for the troublesome organization. Will results come, or will more sorrow follow them like a midday shadow?


**Assault**

"Zan! Zan, speak to me!" Shin yelled towards his longtime friend who was gasping for air on the ground with blood beginning to pool around his body.

Roughly thirty feet from them stood a Rhyperior, a Toxicroak and their trainer, Mason who had a large grin on his face. "That's one down already and we only had to use one move on him." he commented. They had snuck up on the group of traveling pokémon in the dark which let them sit back and watch for a few hours before making their move…

"Zan, say something!" he pleaded as he knelt over his fallen friend as he watched him take in short, shallow breaths...

* * *

"Alright, we'll be over to the east collecting berries for tonight if you two need anything." Rei told them before her Rio and Nite took off into the brush to take care of their task that was more fun than considered work seeing as they ended up goofing off more often than not.

With them leaving, it left Zan and Shin alone to discuss what they'd be doing next.

Over the past five months, the small group had been hitting smaller Team Rocket outposts along the eastern side of the region. They knew it wouldn't be a major blow to the organization, but they also knew that eventually they would begin to see results. While things had started off smoothly, the outposts were beginning to prepare for them with each new one they hit. Word was getting around that a group of six pokémon were traveling the countryside and taking down Team Rocket outposts which would hinder communications for this side of the region slightly.

Also over the course of five months, Glint had decided to go his separate way. While the idea was met with opposition from a few of the members, he stood his ground at the fact that he was tired of trekking the eastern coast of the region. He wanted to go back to where the Rocket's first captured him, to the north. He wanted to see what things were like after all this time in the northern parts now that he was free. While they didn't want him to go, they understood why he felt he had to. So with a few goodbyes and tears, Glint left them roughly one month ago to head north and they hadn't heard anything from him ever since…

"So, Shin. You know that there's a chance that someone has a team looking for us by now, right?" Zan asked as he took a seat on a fallen tree and looked into the sky.

"I know that, it's just another reason why I'd prefer to be doing this alone instead of having you and two tag-a-longs following me all over the place. Not only is it inconvenient at times but it's a liability."

"We both know that by now, if we were to split up they'd just pick off Nite, Rei and Rio one by one."

"Well no shit. Now they know that there's supposed to be five or six pokémon hitting their outposts. If you all would've just let me go off alone when I mentioned it all those months ago we wouldn't have this damn issue now." Shin ranted before sitting down next to a tree and leaning back against it.

"It's too late to complain about that now, ok? We're all here and we're all in this together whether it's wise or not." Zan argued.

"The only reason it's too late is because all of you were too damn hard-headed to do what I told you to do. Seriously, how hard is it to follow the simple instruction to 'stay put'?"

"Rei adores you and I don't feel comfortable at all leaving her alone with you because I know just how big of an ass you can be, alright?" Zan explained in an annoyed tone of voice. "And Nite'll go anywhere that I do and I'm sure that Rio thinks highly of you too. There, there are a couple good reasons as to why we're still here with you."

"You're all fools, complete fools…" Shin responded before pushing himself to his feet and taking a few steps away, prompting Zan to stand up and turn to him.

"Why? Because we want to stay together and send a joint strike against Team Rocket with friends because of what they did to us for all those months?" Zan questioned, anger filling his voice.

"…"

"Answer me!"

"Would an answer justify anything other than just continuing this stupid argument of yours?" he finally answered.

"You think just because you're stronger than us that you're the only one who's justified in attacking them and that everyone else should just stay out of your way until you're finished and you know damn well that's not going to happen."

"If all you're going to do is stand there and try to give me a lecture… why don't you do us both a favor and go find the 'children' and make yourself useful for once then, Zan." Shin told him with his back turned to him which made Zan's blood boil.

"You arrogant, egotistical, self-serving son-of-a-bi-…" he started but stopped suddenly.

"Why don't you finish saying what you want to tell me, Zan?" Shin mused, eager for the Zangoose to finish his comment, not even bothering to face him.

"What's wrong, Skitty got your tongue?" Shin chuckled before turning around and his friend with a pained look on his face and something protruding from his abdomen.

"Z-Zan?" he muttered out, clearly shocked at the vision before him.

"Shin… He-…Help… Me…" he pleaded in a strained voice.

Behind Zan stood a hunched-over Rhyperior. Once Shin realized this it became apparent what was sticking straight through Zan's body… Rhyperior's horn.

"Rhyperior, get rid of the trash. It's staining your horn" a voice spoke up from behind the large pokémon.

On cue, the large pokémon gave off a roar before launching Zan through the air until hitting a tree and landing limply on the ground.

"Zan! Zan, speak to me!"

* * *

"You really hold Shin in high regards, don't you Rei?"

"Well, almost a year ago now I ran into him in the mountain ranges in the southeast and he could've easily killed me then… But he spared me."

"Shin sparing someone he doesn't know? You sure we're talking about the same heartless, black Raichu?"

"Oh stop it, Rio." she responded with a smile. "You may not see it, but he has a softer side… I know he does."

"Ahhh!" Nite's voice echoed through the forest before his body could be seen spiraling out of a tree and hitting the ground with a loud thud."

"Nite, you ok?" Rio asked, slightly concerned while trying to hold back a fit of laughter.

"I… I found some berries up there, but this Weedle came outta nowhere and tried to bite me!"

"A… Weedle?" Rio asked, not really sure if he could believe that a Marowak was scared out of a tree by a Weedle. "You, a Marowak, were scared out of that tree by a Weedle?"

"Shut up Rio! It caught me off guard…" Nite whined before looking down, slightly embarrassed now.

"Oh leave him alone, Rio." Rei chimed in before stepping in next to the smaller-than-normal Marowak and nudging him gently. "Beedrill can be plenty scary if you aren't expecting them."

"Yeah!" Nite echoed with a big grin on his face before sticking his tongue out at the Lucario and sprinting back up another tree to look for more berries, his actions garnering a light chuckle from Rei as she continue looking for berries.

"Rei, I know you believe in him and want to see a light-hearted side of him… But I just don't know if it exists and I think you're just setting yourself up for a fall." Rio commented from behind her.

"Rio, I know that he's a hard-ass to you and the others. But I've seen a softer side of him, even if it was just for a second or two." she explained. "I appreciate your sentiments, but I'll take my chances."

"Well, I hope you know what you're doing."

Up above, Nite was scavenging for berries as usual when he saw a trees sway in the distance. "That kinda looks a bit like where we left Shin and Zan…" he thought aloud to himself before stopping his berry picking and focusing in on the tree.

"Hey guys, didn't we leave Zan and Shin over in that direction?" he asked the other two while pointing in the direction he meant.

"Yeah, why?" Rio asked, not really breaking stride.

"Well, I just saw a tree over in that vicinity just sway quite a bit. You think something might've happened between them?"

"They're big boys, they can handle themselves Nite. Now let's collect these berries or someone's going to starve tonight." Rei chimed in before chunking a pecha berry at him with a smile.

"Holy crap! That's a Rhyperior!" he yelled out.

"A what?" Rio and Rei responded in unison before exchanging worried looks.

"Let's go!" Rio called out before all three began making a beeline back to Shin and Zan's location.

"What would a Rhyperior be doing out here anyways?" Rio asked. "Aren't they usually only scene in areas with rocky terrain?"

"Don't know, but I don't think we should worry about why it's here at the moment!" Rei responded before leaping over a bush. "Nite, are you keeping up?"

"Yeah, jumping from tree to tree is easy for me!" he answered.

Before long they made it to the battleground and were astounded at what they saw before them…

* * *

_Sorry for the long wait after that cliffhanger, before beginning the next part in the Renegade saga I wanted to be completely sure I knew where I was headed and what I wanted to have waiting there for the story. Hope you all like this one more than the last since I'll be more in my element for this installment. Thoughts, ideas and suggestions are welcomed!_


End file.
